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November 6, 2015

Kidney-­conscious shopping

By uclahealth

“I used to giggle and laugh at the people at the supermarket who were looking at labels; now I’m that person. I have to go, ‘Does this have too much sodium? Does this have too much potassium?’ Most people don’t have to think about whether they’re drinking too much orange juice or taking too much potassium, but I do,” says Bryan Taylor, whose kidney function is at 16-­‐to-­‐17 percent. “Fifteen percent is when they consider your kidneys in failing range. So there’s a possibility I may go to dialysis, but right now we’re trying to hold the line until I can get a kidney transplant. I found out completely by accident that I had PKD, or polycystic kidney disease, 12 years ago. I transferred care to UCLA Health a year ago, after finding Dr. Anjay Rastogi. He was the first doctor I ran across who not only specialized in kidneys, but ran the transplant department and knew about PKD. It was a dream-­come-true. Everybody at UCLA is wonderful. The treatments are tailored to who you are as a person; you aren’t just a medical number walking in and out. It’s wonderful.”